ELEGANT TOOLS THAT WORK

Marketing vs. Selling

We are part of a strategy session with one partner organization or another almost daily. Without fail, the conversation turns to a discussion of the difference between marketing, selling, branding, and advertising. In fact just the other day, I thought one organization's team was going to come to blows over it. So, in the interest of peace on earth, I thought I would share our perspective:

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The Most Effective Way to Understand Your Donors

A large portion of our business is coming alongside nonprofit organizations as strategic consultants, development advisers, and marketing and creative innovators. Without question, however, we get asked by every organization about donor profiling, data modeling, and predictive lifetime value analysis. There are tons of companies that specialize in predictive modeling in addition to the work that we do. Yet, more times than not when asked, I respond with a simple question that is usually met with the sound of crickets chirping...

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Mind of a Donor

3 Tips to Breaking Blogger's Block

Creating content for your blog, website, or social media feed is a constant task. I often remind partners that we work with that although they absolutely need to be blogging and creating a social media conversation, "Once you create the beast, you have to feed the beast!" Writer's or Blogger's Block is fairly common and makes even the most seasoned writer shudder at the thought. Fortunately, there are several tricks and tips to break open the jam and let the creative juices flow! Here are a few of the most helpful for me:

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Blogger's Block

5 Clues It Is Time for a Change

5 Clues It Is Time for a Change

About every other day I receive a call from a nonprofit organization or a commercial company that is kicking around the idea of changing agencies.  A big part of that is just the nature of the client/vendor relationship, but I believe there is something more meaningful and measurable that will allow you to know for sure whether or not it is time for a change.  In the spirit of full disclosure, I have been on both sides of this conversation so I will share my views on what to evaluate before you stir that pot.

5 Clues:

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3 Ways to Not Commoditize Your Work

The challenge in building a dynamic agency, as with any business, is being able to work 'on' the business as well as 'in' the business. Leading a team internally while also being a part and contributing to a client team is a perilous juggle at times. But over the 25 years that I have been in the marketing and storytelling industry, I have learned several key lessons that allow me to serve the team at home while also adding critical value to the clients with whom I have the privilege to serve.

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Partner Relationship